Girls Camp!

So... this year was my FIFTH (Yes, you read that right)... FIFTH year as camp director. I LOVE going to camp. I'm not as excited about planning it, but I love to go. We kept things really simple this year, and good thing. We battled CrAzY weather the entire time we were there, and simple turned out to be much better.

We went to Mutual Dell, in American Fork Canyon, and we started off the day on Tuesday at the Ropes Course. I must say, it doesn't come close to the ropes course at Heber Valley Camp, but still... fun stuff. The best part of camp this year? Having Eryn there. I still can't believe she's 12, in Young Womens, and able to go to camp.

Later on that afternoon, we got to go up to Tibble Fork and canoe! It was so, so fun. And perfect weather!

Eryn thought canoeing was super fun. She really enjoyed herself. I don't think a single girl came away dry... they were tipping each others' canoes, jumping in... and the water was pretty cold.

I love canoeing. It's so relaxing and fun. Thanks to my sweet YW Pres for borrowing my camera while I was out ;)

That evening... we had a cute devotional that the YCLs put together. It was on the Armor of God. Eryn got to wear the armor :)

All in all, things were going great. We got into our tents that night and settled in... only to be awakened around 3 a.m. by the craziest thunderstorm I have ever experienced. It was literally "Flash! Boom! Flash! Boom! Flash! Boom!" So loud!! So bright!! So awesome!! We found out later that the girls actually screamed a few times, but the thunder was so loud, they couldn't even hear themselves! Needless to say, when the storm passed (temporarily) in the morning, we awoke to find everything wet and covered in mud. Oh well. Such is camping. We would make the most of it! I don't have many pictures of the next two days. My camera was "safe" in the tent while we went about our activities dodging storms all day. One major one came through and dumped some serious hail!! Luckily we were in the pavilion working on making Journals, but it was crazy! Our tent (the leaders) actually became so bogged down with water, that we decided that we would have to just collapse it before tent posts bent. Thank goodness Mutual Dell has a lodge. With the rain continuing to pour, we decided to move inside. We shared the basement of the lodge with two other wards from other cities. The girls weren't thrilled, but it was much better than having our tents collapse on us as we floated around in muddy water ;) So what did we do to pass the time inside? Well, I ended up braiding almost every. single. girls'. hair. And even some of the leaders! Funny :)

Thursday, thankfully, things cleared up. We were supposed to hike up to Timp Cave, and when we got there, we almost didn't get to go. They had the trail closed! Apparently there had been a rock slide, and they were still trying to clean it up. Just when we were about to pack up and leave, there was a message from the top... SEND THEM UP! Yay! I love hiking to the cave.  The views are amazing!

This was Eryn's first time, and she had a blast!

Me and my girl!! Yes, she is almost as tall as me!

Finally at the top!

Inside the cave... we ended up with such a cool guide. Since we were a young women's group (and she was a former YW leader) she tied EVERYTHING in spiritually, which was SO SO COOL! We loved her :)

Almost as soon as we returned to camp, it was time to do the ZIP LINE!

Everyone got to go three times. Eryn loved it!

What a fun camp we had. I would have to say it turned out to be one of my favorites... storms, mud, inconveniences, and all. I think the "hardships" we had to endure really brought everyone together. That night at testimony meeting, we kept seeing lightning and hearing thunder, but it stayed away long enough for us to finish... then it rained again. The worst part was just trying to figure out how and what to pack first the next morning, since EVERYTHING was covered in mud :) Thank goodness for an amazing bishop who took down all the tents, hauled them home, and got them all cleaned out before we even got home.

I LOVE GIRLS CAMP!